Cancer

The Evolutionary Legacy

Mel Greaves

The first book to put the story of cancer in an evolutionary perspective

Explains why women are particularly hard hit by cancers, and why some cancers (prostate, melanoma) are increasing in incidence

Explains why different cultures have different cancers

Written by an expert in cancer research

Cancer

The Evolutionary Legacy

Mel Greaves

Description

In this lucid and entertaining book, Mel Greaves argues that evolutionary biology offers a new perspective that can help us unravel the riddle of cancer. Why, for example, have women always had such a raw deal in the cancer stakes? And why are some cancers, such as prostate cancer, increasing in incidence?

Greaves argues that Darwinian selection millions of years ago has endowed our genes and cells with inherently cancerous credentials, and this is exacerbated by our rapid social evolution and exotic behavioural traits that outpace genetic adaptation. The book is full of novel insights, the latest scientific discoveries, and wonderful historical anecdotes. It provides a unique portrait of cancer, past, present, and future.

Cancer

The Evolutionary Legacy

Mel Greaves

Table of Contents

PrefacePART I: CANCER - ANCIENT LEGACIES AND MODERN MYTHS 1: Perplexed? You should be 2: The King of Naples and other silent witnesses 3: Questions and answersPART II: EVOLVING CANCER 4: Clones, clones, clones 5: The way we are: risk and restraints 6: How cancer cells play the winning game 7: Green-eyed mutations? 8: Blind chance - and ultimate extinction?PART III: PARADOXES OF PROGRESS: INDECENT EXPOSURES 9: Is cancer an evolutionary inevitability? 10: And then you set fire to it? 11: Women's troubles 12: Men's troubles 13: Cancer a deux 14: Other ways of getting bugged 15: Travelling light 16: Dying for a living 17: Collateral damage 18: Finale: compounding risk with bad luckPART IV: FINESSING THE CLONE 19: Treatment: the blind marksman 20: Epilogue: cancer in the 21st century Index

Cancer

The Evolutionary Legacy

Mel Greaves

Author Information

Mel Greaves, Institute for Cancer Research, London

Cancer

The Evolutionary Legacy

Mel Greaves

Reviews and Awards

BMA Medical Book Competition 2001, awarded Highly Commended in the Popular Medicine category

"The more you read of this, the harder it is to put down." - Nursing Standard

"This is a most engaging and accessible book... There are plenty of books on cancer as a disease, but this book is unusual in its focus on the underlying biological principles." - Journal of Biological Education